


Love Is In The Air (So Is Magic)

by eafay70



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - You've Got Mail Fusion, Fire, Happy Ending, M/M, Mentions of crime, Minor Angst, Podfic Available
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-22
Updated: 2018-06-22
Packaged: 2019-05-16 04:17:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14804214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eafay70/pseuds/eafay70
Summary: Sid begins a penpal correspondence around the same time he meets Geno, the new employee at the shop around the corner. Where will his heart lead him?





	Love Is In The Air (So Is Magic)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [XylophoneCat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/XylophoneCat/gifts).



> Hi! :D I fell in love with your prompt idea as soon as I read it! This turned out to be not quite that, but I do hope you enjoy it!
> 
> A big thanks to my friend kaixo for her amazing beta-read on this fic. =]

Sid glared at Nate. "How hard is it to stick to the shopping list?"

"I'm sorry!" Nate's head drooped sadly. "The stuff you wanted didn't cost nearly as much as you gave me, and we always seem to be low on herbs, so -"

"Herbs don't stay fresh very long," Sid explained. "So you can't really have a lot on hand because it'll go bad. And just because the container's less than half full doesn't mean we're running low!"

"I'm really sorry!" Nate repeated.

"It's okay." Sid placed his hand on Nate's shoulder in a gesture of forgiveness. "Just don't do it again. To be fair, I don't know that you'll get the chance, since prices are usually higher."

"True," Nate acknowledged. "Do you want me to return the herbs, then?"

"Yes, please," Sid replied.

Nate nodded in understanding, grabbed the herbs, and left the workshop in a puff of white smoke. To Sid's non-surprise, the room shook for a few moments, causing quite a few bottles to break. Sid sighed in exasperation and began cleaning up. Nate was certainly bright, but he tended to rush into things rather than slow down and listen before acting. That could be dangerous when dealing with magic...

Sid's thoughts were interrupted by the "noot-NOOT!" of an incoming letter. He held out his hand and smiled when the folded parchment landed in his palm. As he'd expected, it featured a penguin seal and the words _Sgt. Horny's Lonely Hearts Club, Inc._

The club was a matchmaking service centered around penpals. Sgt. Horny and the other employees made the matches and handled the letters so as to maintain anonymity. Participants were told to sign their letters with a symbol rather than their name, and the staff kept a list of participants and their symbols. And today was the day Sid had been told to expect his first letter! He tapped the seal with his thumb, which opened the letter. Sid read it immediately:

_Dear !,_  
_Hello! I am very excited to begin this correspondence. Having moved to this area only recently, I am still organizing both work matters and life matters, which means that I do not have time for traditional dating. I hope that I am settled enough to ask you to date by the time we reach that stage, if the spirits will it! And I hope that the spirits mercifully keep the weather mild, unlike the predictions I have heard!_  
_Write soon,_  
_Ж_

Sid marveled at how eloquently his new penpal wrote. This person was clearly well-educated, and Sid was determined to impress them with his word choice, too. But first, he'd have to figure out how to write that symbol.

After filling an entire piece of parchment with failed attempts at replicating the symbol, Sid decided to go with Plan B:

_Dear >|<,_  
_Hello! It's very nice to meet you! Unfortunately, I am unfamiliar with your symbol. Could you perhaps explain how to write it?_  
_I have lived here for about a year and am comfortably settled. However, the idea of meeting new people has always frightened me, which is why I have decided to try this service. I am confident that we will get to know each other quite well through these letters!_  
_Why do you wish for mild weather? I moved here because of the weather - I fell in love with a painting of the riverbank in winter and simply had to see it in person. It is even lovelier than the painting, I promise._  
_Write soon,_  
_!_

Sid folded the parchment and used his wand to apply his personal seal before casting a send spell to Sgt. Horny's. As the outgoing "NOOT-noot!" carried away the letter, Sid smiled at the thought of his penpal reading the letter and sending a reply. This would prove to be a very good idea.

***

This would prove to be a very bad idea.

Sid forced himself not to groan as the line continued to not move. He'd wanted to show Nate how to shop for leaves when they were in season, but apparently a lot of other people wanted leaves, too. The line leading to the counter where one ordered leaves was the longest he'd ever had to stand in.

"It usually isn't this bad," Sid said. "I guess people want to be prepared in case the snow comes early and the leaves dry up sooner than usual."

Nate leaned slightly to look at the front of the line before standing up straight again. "That customer's been up there for at least five minutes."

"Really?" Sid copied Nate's motions in surprise. "Most people only need a minute up there. It's not that hard, and even if you're new to it, it's not time-consuming."

After roughly an hour, Sid and Nate finally reached the front of the line. "You're not Olli," Sid said, cringing at how rude he sounded.

"Olli on honeymoon with Justin," the man explained as he cleaned the display area. His accent was about as thick as his mop of dark brown hair, but he was still understandable. "Be back next week. Can call Geno."

"Okay, Geno," Sid said. "Could I please -"

"I'm guess!" Geno smiled, which highlighted his soft features. "Lots of maple and lots of beech!" He tossed a handful of each type of leaf into the air with a happy laugh.

Sid gulped, hating that Geno's large hands were so distracting. "No, thank you. I would -"

"Okay, I'm guess again!"

"No!" Sid barked. He winced and shook his head. "I'm sorry. I've been nothing but rude. But I don't like guessing games. I don't like waiting in lines. And I don't like my leaves being touched by bare hands before I buy them, because I don't like having to clean them in my workshop."

Geno sighed softly. "I accept you sorry. Please tell me what want."

"I would like an ounce of sycamore leaves, an ounce of holly leaves, and an ounce of redwood leaves, please."

Geno nodded silently and scanned the display before finding the sycamore leaves. He waved his hands over the pile, causing some of them to hover above the counter. Geno clapped his hands, and the leaves fell onto a small piece of wax paper. He carefully carried the pile on the wax paper to the very large scale behind him and sighed in disappointment when the reading showed much more than one ounce. After a few more handwaves, Geno managed to get the pile to the right size. With a snap of Geno's fingers, the wax paper sealed itself, allowing Geno to place it on the top counter. He repeated this procedure for both the holly leaves and the redwood leaves. "Here go. Olli send bill when back. Nice day."

"Thanks, you, too." Sid grabbed the three packets and exited the store, Nate on his heels.

Nate helped Sid store the leaves before speaking. "I've never seen you that angry."

"I haven't been that angry in a long time," Sid replied. "I've never liked change - there was too much of it when I was little."

"I grew up next door, Sid," Nate pointed out. "We couldn't take anything for granted in that economy, never mind all those crime waves. But you're the only person I know who's so..."

"Finicky," Sid supplied. "That's also because of my magic. It can go haywire very easily, so I need to control my environment, to create stability. Once I find something that works, I stick with it because a lot of stuff doesn't work."

Nate hummed in thought. "Is that why you're always telling me to slow down?"

"Not exactly." Sid looked directly at Nate to emphasize his words. "Magic can be dangerous and unpredictable when rushed. You need to understand the situation and consider all options before acting. If you move too quickly, the results will be harder to work with."

"Oh." Nate lowered his gaze, deep in thought.

Before Sid could decide whether or not to say something, he heard the familiar "noot-NOOT!" Both he and Nate held out their hands, and a letter fell onto Sid's palm. Sid was pleasantly surprised to see Sgt. Horny's penguin seal on the parchment.

"I'll leave you to your love letter," Nate laughed as he left the room in a puff of smoke, causing the floor to shake so much that Sid dropped the letter.

After checking that nothing had broken this time, Sid picked up the letter and tapped the seal with his thumb to open it. He read:

_Dear !,_  
_I will not teach you how to write my symbol. You will get better at writing it as time goes on._  
_Today was a bad day at work. I am not as quick with my magic as the other employees, which made the clients unhappy. I fear that they will not return unless I am given a different role, and that idea saddens me._  
_But enough about me! Tell me about you. Do you work for regular clients? Or are you more freelance? What are your favorite things to do with magic?_  
_Write soon,_  
_Ж_

Sid wrote back immediately:

 _Dear )I(,_  
_I am sorry to hear that you had a bad day at work. I lost my temper today while shopping, and it frightened my new apprentice. We talked about it afterwards; he is calm now, thank the spirits._  
_I do not have regular clients as such. I make various products for people to purchase when needed. Some people buy from me often, but it's rare for someone to need a specific product more than once, if that makes sense._  
_My favorite thing to do with magic is control the weather. I love to brighten up the sky when a friend needs a reason to smile, or send a cool breeze when it's too warm. What about you?_  
_Write soon,_  
_!_

***

Sid waited until Olli sent the bill to go back to the store, not wanting to overwhelm Geno while he was running the store alone. It also helped that Nate wanted the chance to practice making potions by himself, so Sid was able to go by himself.

"Hey, Sid!" Olli greeted him cheerfully.

"Hey, congrats again!" Sid smiled in reply.

"Thanks!" Justin appeared next to his husband in a flash of smoke. "What can we get you?"

"Actually, I wanted to talk to Geno." Sid resisted the urge to stare at his feet. "I was really rude to him the last time I was here."

The newlyweds exchanged a glance. Olli pointed to the back counter. "He's helping people with winterizing their supplies. Or at least he would be if anyone wanted that done."

"People always wait until the last minute," Justin sighed. "Not smart."

"Not smart at all," Sid agreed. "Thanks."

He walked to the back counter and smiled at Geno, who beamed back. "Sid back! Not stay mad!"

"I shouldn't have been angry in the first place." Sid focused his gaze on Geno's large hands cleaning a vial, then took a deep breath and looked up. "I'm so sorry for how I behaved that day. It was unacceptable."

"You say sorry then, not need say sorry now," Geno countered. "And I'm like that I'm not need answer same questions again and again."

"Oh?" Sid rested his hands on the counter. "What questions?"

"Where from, what said, why here, what said, when Olli back, WHAT SAID..."

Sid blinked in surprise. "They asked where you were from, what you'd said, why you were here, what you'd said, when Olli would be back, and what you'd said?!"

"Exactly." Geno shook his head forlornly. "Always yell last bit. Think I'm suddenly learn language if shouting at me."

"I'm sorry," Sid said, not sure what else to say.

"Not Sid fault." Geno smiled, not quite as blindingly as earlier but still as kind. "Can ask if want."

"I have a different question first." Sid took a large jar out of his bag and placed it on the counter. "Could you please winterize this for ground spices?"

Geno blinked before answering. "Of course! But why so early?"

"I don't like leaving it to the last minute," Sid explained as Geno got to work. "So...where are you from?"

"Russia. Come here to send money back. You from here?"

"No, I'm originally from Canada. I left before the magic turf war could ensnare me."

"Good idea." Geno finished his task and handed the jar back to Sid. "Ta-da!"

"Thank you." Sid put the jar back in his bag. "I'll see you soon, probably."

"Hope so." Geno smiled his brightest smile again.

***

As the weeks went by, Sid found himself looking forward to the "noot-NOOT!" of an incoming letter more than anything else during the day, to the point where he was beaming before the letter even hit his extended palm. His penpal usually wrote in the late afternoon, discussing how much he loved customizing things by changing their colors or sizes with a snap of his fingers or how annoying he found the local council's bureaucracy. Sid wrote back right away, unburdening the stresses of running a business while teaching an apprentice. They shared all sorts of personal details, and Sid felt that they knew each other well - even though Sid still couldn't write the symbol properly!

The other bright spot in Sid's routine was Geno. With the weather worsening faster than usual, Sid needed to act quickly to get enough supplies, and Nate liked working directly with the customers, which left Sid free to go to the store. (Nate always sniggered at that explanation, as did Olli and Justin, but that was irrelevant.) Geno was always happy, if his smile was anything to go by, and he was getting better at predicting what Sid wanted, which was apparently part of his magic. And Geno never seemed to mind waiting for Sid to rub his hands together in an effort to thaw them before speaking, which Sid greatly appreciated. Geno still struggled with the language, but Sid didn't care - quite honestly, it was yet another thing Sid liked about him.

Sid felt somewhat guilty about how very much he liked Geno because of how very much he liked his penpal. Geno was handsome, funny, and talented; his penpal was intelligent, charming, and considerate. If Sid hadn't had his penpal, he'd probably dare to dream of something more than friendship with Geno...but Sid would still be too painfully shy to pursue anything. And if Sid hadn't had feelings for Geno, he'd probably dare to ask his penpal to meet in person...but Sid would still be too scared of screwing up to do anything.

To put it simply, Sid was falling in love with two people, and it didn't look likely that he'd get anywhere with either of them.

At least Nate was doing his job well.

***

Nate was not doing his job well by any stretch of the imagination.

"I don't know how it happened!" Nate shouted as he and Sid ran out of the burning workshop. "I tried an undoing spell as soon as it happened, but that just made it bigger!"

"There's supposed to be snow later, so that's probably messing with your magic," Sid explained. He and Nate stopped running and caught their breath. "Send out an emergency signal."

Nate did as he was told, cringing slightly as the "NOOT-NOOT!" screeched repeatedly.

"Now tell me exactly what you did," Sid prompted, blowing on his fingers in an attempt to keep them warm.

"I was making thaw cream for the order we got last night. I poured filtered water into a pot, then I added cinnamon, then the bottle of herbs mix -"

"The bottle?" Sid repeated. "How much of the bottle?"

"All of it..." Nate gulped nervously, his shivers worsening. "It's a big order!"

"You don't change the amount of herbs mix! You never change the amount of herbs!" Sid groaned. "Okay, I think I know what to do."

Sid closed his eyes and took a deep breath, ordering his magic to gather in front of him. It took a few tries, but eventually Sid opened his eyes and sent out a flame-snuffing spell...only for the spell to dissipate before reaching the fire.

"Sid!" Geno appeared in a small plume of smoke in front of him. "What wrong with spell?"

"I can't get my magic to focus," Sid groaned. "I can't concentrate."

"I'm help." There was no room for argument in Geno's tone. "Tell me what spell."

"Flame-snuffing."

"Okay. Do spell again. I'm get it there."

Sid looked into Geno's eyes for a moment, then took a deep breath and stepped to the side before sending out the spell. Geno waved his arms frantically, sending the spell straight to the fire. "Help hold!"

Sid concentrated his magic, feeling it combine with Geno's magic to keep the spell in place as the flames were doused. It took about five minutes until the fire was out.

With a heavy groan, Sid collapsed to his knees. He heard Nate say something about talking to the officials, then he felt an arm across his back. "Sid, is okay now."

"How?" Sid swallowed back a sob as he lifted his head and looked at the damaged building. "How is it okay now?"

"Sid alive. Nate alive. Fire stopped."

"So?" Blinking back tears at the thought of what remained of his workshop, Sid lowered his gaze to the ground reached out his hand and began rubbing the dirt with his index finger. "There's no way much of anything survived."

"I help you get new stuff. I tell Olli and Justin to take from paycheck."

Geno was offering to use his paycheck to help Sid?? "Why?"

"Help friend is right thing."

Still doing his best to keep his tears at bay, Sid drew in the now-loose dirt with his index finger. "Thank you, Geno."

"I help you now." Geno held Sid's hand to stop it from moving. "What trying to draw?"

"It's...it's a symbol..." Sid's voice faltered. "A signature."

"Thought so. Let me." Geno guided Sid's hand to form a perfect Ж in the dirt.

"How?" Sid whispered.

"Is Russian letter - first letter in my Russian nickname. That's why I'm pick for..." Geno's voice trailed off.

Sid used his other hand to draw an ! in the dirt. "That's me."

"I'm want it be you," Geno whispered, pulling Sid into a hug. "I'm want it be you so bad."

"I had no idea..." Sid allowed himself to cry into Geno's chest. "I thought I was falling for two people who were out of my league, not one person who's out in another galaxy."

"Don't cry, exclamation dot..." Geno stroked Sid's back soothingly. "I can check letter with dictionary before sending, but can't check speech with anything before saying."

Sid chuckled softly. "You don't need a dictionary, I promise." He leaned back and smiled. "I've always understood you."

"True." Geno smiled back. "Okay if kiss? Please?"

"Yes." Sid wiggled his fingers, and rain began to fall. "For the mood."

Geno laughed before kissing Sid, who kissed back with all the strength he could muster. When they pulled back to breathe, Geno pointed to the workshop. "Taped up."

Sid turned to look and sighed sadly at the sign reading "DO NOT APPROACH - DANGEROUS SCENE" on the window. "Nate was supposed to babysit for a friend tonight. They'll probably let him stay there until we're fixed up."

Geno hummed and kissed the top of Sid's head. "You stay with me until fixed up, then stay with me after fixed up?"

"Sounds like a plan."

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos are deeply appreciated!

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [In the Good Old Autumn-Time](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16169018) by [eafay70](https://archiveofourown.org/users/eafay70/pseuds/eafay70)
  * [Love Is In The Air (So Is Magic) [Podfic]](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17664704) by [ItsADrizzit](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ItsADrizzit/pseuds/ItsADrizzit)




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